by Nancy Gideon
“To talk.”
“About what? All the good times we’ve shared? Let me think. Nope. Don’t know of any.”
“I wouldn’t have come here if I’d had anyplace else to go.”
“You’re not going to talk about your feelings, are you?”
Colin scowled. “I don’t do feelings.”
“Good, ’cuz I’m not about to trade a hot wife for a whiny guy. What’s on your mind? You’ve got until that timer stops.”
“I need to talk to someone I trust.” A laugh. “Never thought that’d be you.”
MacCreedy went inside the building’s front reception area and returned with two cold soda cans, tossing one to Colin as he dragged over a chair. “To what do I owe the honor of being trustworthy? Thought that extended only as far as your family.”
Colin popped the top and took a long drink, studiously staring up at the stars above.
“Or,” Silas concluded, “are they the problem?”
“I’m caught in the middle, and no one’s playing square with me. I don’t know what to do, who to believe.”
“Cale?”
Colin shook his head. “I put everything I am behind him and now . . . I’m not sure it was the right move. I’m afraid he’s got an agenda that doesn’t include what’s best for everyone.”
All sharp attention, MacCreedy leaned forward. “Why would you think that?”
“I believe in what we’re doing here, in what we’re trying to build. It’s the right thing, the only thing for all of us.”
“But you don’t think Cale does? Why?”
“He’s lying. To us, to his family, to his—” He broke off abruptly but not before Silas caught the reference. To Kendra, MacCreedy’s treasured cousin. The tall shifter began to frown.
“Explain.”
“Since he came here and got tied in with Lee, that business with Jamie, with you at Savoie’s office, he’s . . . different, not who I thought I was following.”
Silas didn’t disbelieve him. “The drugs, you think?”
“I don’t know. But he’s taking risks he doesn’t have to. He’s pushing away those who could help our cause. He’s putting his faith in the wrong places.”
“Like?”
Me, he wanted to say. “Jamie’s contacted me.” He saw Silas stiffen. “I’m probably not the only one. He’s trying to divide us, and Cale’s helping him by not being as strong or as honest as he needs to be. Jamie’s got people inside, here in New Orleans. I met with one tonight wearing that Patrol tattoo. If we let them pick us apart from the inside, we might as well just roll over.”
“So, what are you thinking? You must have something on your mind, or you wouldn’t be here distracting all my neighbors.”
Colin followed Silas’ upward nod to the women crowding four stories of windows to stare down appreciatively at him in the pool. Another time, he might have flirted with the opportunity. But tonight, after a small wave, he was all business.
“We need to plug our leaks and sail together or all sink. This isn’t about clans anymore. It’s about our kind.”
“Agreed.”
“We need to present a united front. All of us. We need to rally behind figureheads that prove we’re stronger together. Like Savoie, and you, and your sister.”
“My sister?” Silas bristled up. “What do you mean?”
“With her human mate.” He studied Silas’s unusually transparent features. “What did you think I meant?”
“I thought maybe Cale had said something to you. About the father of her child.”
Colin frowned. “It’s not that guy she’s with?”
“No.” He hesitated, then took the risk. “Her child is the Guedry heir.”
Colin blinked, completely stunned. An unexpected door opened wide. “You’re okay with that?”
“Wasn’t my choice, but Bree never asked my opinion. It’s okay with Giles, and that’s all that matters.”
“And Rueben?”
“He and Giles came to an agreement.” Silas smiled. “That I wish I’d seen. We raise him here until he’s of age to decide what he wants to do.”
“He. A boy.” The consequences swirled like the steamy water surrounding him. A strong, solid link between the clans, offering tremendous opportunities. “Who else knows?”
“Savoie, Cee Cee, Nica, her doctor, Kendra. Cale.”
“Cale?”
“He saved their lives when they were run off the road right after he got here.”
“I didn’t hear about that.” What else didn’t he know about what his king had been doing?
“Now you do.” MacCreedy’s stare pinned him to the hot bricks. “And you understand how dangerous this information could be in the wrong hands.”
“It goes no farther.”
“And I should believe you, why?”
“I’m in love with Mia Guedry and want to be with her for the rest of my life.” There. He’d said it out loud.
Silas stared at him. “Seriously.”
“Dude, do I look like that’s something I’d come up with to be funny?”
Silas closed his mouth with an audible click. “Huh.” He shook off his surprise. “And who knows about that?”
“Rico, Sylvia, and now you.”
“And how’s that going to play with your family?”
“It won’t. That’s why I’m buying that place I’m living in. I’ll be staying here in New Orleans. And now you know why I’m so interested in unifying our people. So there’ll be no outsiders. Just all of us paddling as best we can to stay above water.”
“And what does she think about this?”
That was the real question, wasn’t it? The one he was afraid to ask. “I’ll have to get back to you on that.”
A low whistle. "What does the other guy look like?"
"Annoyingly gorgeous," Mia growled, reluctantly opening the door so Isaac Thorne could enter her room.
"A falling out? I thought you were thick as thieves?"
"We were working out, and his elbow got through."
"What else are you're letting get through these days?"
Mia flopped down on the couch, still too sore and irritable to pretend otherwise. "Not in the mood for innuendos, Thorne."
"Not in the mood for taking care of business, either, from what I've been able to tell."
She followed him with a dangerously narrowed glare as he helped himself to another bottle of the same vintage she'd finished off alone the night before. "I'm sure you can't wait to elaborate on that."
Thorne took a sip, regarding her over the rim, taking his time because he knew it aggravated her. Then he got to business like an arrow released from a bow. "You came to me because you were passed over for the leadership of our clan. You wailed and whined about your poor dear dead brother and how he would never be avenged under Rueben's plan. You spoke a lot of big talk about your family's legacy and how it would never be honored by your cousin's, shall we say, indifferent hand. You came up with the idea of dragging Rueben down so you could climb to power over his corpse, using his ridiculous notion of uniting the clans as a stepping stone. I went along because you promised you had everything in hand, that you'd ingratiate yourself to the players in New Orleans, get close enough to our enemies to learn their weakness so we could destroy them.” A dramatic pause for effect. “But all you've managed to do is expose your own."
“Enough! I've made myself invaluable to Rueben. He trusts me to act for him here in New Orleans, allowing me to get close to our enemies, closer than we've ever been before. I've been inside Savoie's fortress and am breakfasting with his lieutenant. I have the Terriots eating out of my hand, and I’ve been on their mountain. No! No more of your crude remarks."
Thorne shut his mouth and let her continue, a mildly amused smile on his face.
"We've got people in place that can burn this city to the ground. We're a heartbeat away from brokering the best deal possible with our friends in Chicago, and Rueben hasn't a clue as to our in
volvement. So just what is your problem?"
"My problem is not knowing where exactly your heart lies in all this. I've sensed a rather telling lack of focus when you're around your pretty little mountain man."
"Frederick Terriot is an amusing simpleton who fed me critical information. He's no threat to us."
"I don't mean him."
He meant Colin. Her tone cold as a bared blade, she said, "Colin Terriot is the key to getting me everything I want. He carries his clan's respect. He has his foolish king's ear. He's toying with treason just to have me."
"And that's your plan? Having a Terriot in your pocket as well as in your pants?"
"If I turn him, I turn the tide against Rueben." Her heart beat fast and hard, not at the thought of controlling a Terriot prince but at the thought of having him with her, beside her.
"And just what," Thorne drawled, "do you plan to turn him into? Your pet? Your companion? Your advisor? Terriots are no better than wild animals. You can't tame them, and you can't control them, even by their legendary lusts."
Mia ended the conversation with a blunt truth. "What I plan for him isn't your concern. Without me, you'd be just another one of our company's assets working in the field. Rueben never had any use for you. Your friendship with Danny was the only thing that kept you within sniffing distance of real power. Don't cross me, Isaac. You wouldn't survive it."
"Thank you for recalling me to my place in the scheme of things," Thorne replied in his sinister purr.
He regarded her for a long moment, admiring the loveliness that camouflaged a soul as dark and driven as his own. That, he would never have guessed until they’d stood together, devastated by the news of Daniel's death. His loss cast them both from the dais of power, her due to her sex, him to his lack of pedigree. Neither had mattered to Daniel, but Rueben was less forgiving of imperfections.
He'd bowed and scraped to Rueben and his like for long enough. It was time Isaac Thorne had his due. His future was cast with Mia Guedry. And no way in hell was a Terriot claiming that long-coveted place at her side.
That's where their plans differed.
Mia glanced at the time. Going on midnight. Why hadn't she heard from Colin? She'd made it clear nothing, no one, was standing between them. So why wasn't he here?
Now that she'd verbalized her intentions to Thorne, she needed to act on them. The two of them together . . . her ruling, Colin advising, enforcing. What a team they'd make in every possible way. Cale Terriot was a fool to slacken his leash and let his brother stray. She wouldn't make the same mistake. She'd prove her appreciation in ways that would leave him bowlegged and begging to hold that place at her side. They were perfectly suited, determined, focused, with that huge well of loss and loneliness just aching to be filled by the other. Together, they'd be stronger, undefeatable. Insatiable.
Restless with need, she reached for her coat. If he wouldn't come to her, she'd go to him. And if he wasn't home, he'd find her sleeping on his doorstep in the morning.
Thankfully, she didn't have to go through such lengths. After she paid her cab fare and approached the iron gates that spanned the opening to his private courtyard, she could hear his rocky music playing soft on the night. What if he wasn't alone? Though her territory had yet to be claimed, she bristled at the thought of another's hands on him, and was spoiling for a fight when she pushed open the gate.
She needn't have worried. Colin sat alone on the patio, long form stretched between the two chairs, sleeves rolled up, and eyes closed. The sight of him had her light-headed and spinning down for the count all over again.
She knew exactly when he recognized her scent. The lazy ease of his pose tightened as he drew a breath and let it out slowly. His eyes opened, dark and glittery beneath the stars.
"Hey."
"Hi. Want company?"
"Looks like I've got some."
Since he made no move to sit up, Mia crossed to him, swinging one leg over his to straddle his sturdy thighs between jean-clad legs. His stare never left hers.
"How's the face?" His fingertips grazed softly over the bruise that was still too tender to cover with cosmetics.
"Fine. How's the head?"
His brows crinkled. "Okay, I guess."
He still didn't remember. She let it go. It didn't matter as she leaned in slowly, watching the pupils of his eyes swell as she got closer, closer. He released a quiet breath, and she captured it with her kiss, leisurely nibbling, lightly sucking while their stares locked above. Those lips . . .
“I’ve missed you.”
She felt his smile curve against her mouth. “You just saw me this morning.”
“Not as much of you as I wanted to.”
His big hands settled on the flare of her hips, fingers spreading wide, not moving, just holding. Hers clung to the caps of his shoulders, kneading hard muscle in convulsive little spasms as his mouth trailed along her jaw, pausing so his tongue could circle her earlobe then stroke a warm, damp line down her throat, tasting her jerky swallow.
She puzzled over the strange vibration of his kiss until realizing he was singing to the music playing inside. Foreigner's "It Feels Like the First Time." Laughing, she gripped his hair to pull his head back, and devoured the words and their meaning. The song was right. Everything before was light, fizzy club soda compared to the rich, full-bodied pleasure of having this Terriot male. Together they would make history.
"A party and no one invited me?"
The cool ripple of Rico's voice froze them for a long second. Colin leaned back to look over Mia's shoulder to where his brother stood just inside the gates, expression unreadable.
"Do I need to explain why?"
Feeling the collecting violence beneath her, Mia patted those glorious shoulders, murmuring, “Let me,” as she slid off his lap. She nodded toward the door, waiting until Rico strode inside to brush a soft stroke across Colin’s frown. “He’s your brother,” she whispered. “You don’t want to lose him over this.”
Colin caught her face between his hands, careful of her injury, kissing her deep and hard before saying with a surprising tenderness, “I would toss away everything that’s ever meant anything to me for this.”
Insides shaking, she gave him another quick peck. “Hold that thought.”
Colin let her go, not wanting to, but needing to for the sake of family harmony. He’d meant what he said to her, but he hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He wanted Mia to add more to his life, not to strip everything else away. But he would, to have her. He’d never realized just how intense that certainty was until that minute.
He leaned back in his chair, hoping she could work miracles with his brother’s crushed feelings, knowing just how devastating that loss would wound. But he was done sharing her, just as he’d taken himself off the market the second she’d said, “I’m with you.” If he was being honest, he’d done that the second he first saw her.
He didn't want to exchange more ugly words with Rico. With competition off the table, perhaps things could go back to where they'd been cautiously heading. To a friendship, not just a kinship. For all Rico's bluster and brag, Colin enjoyed his nonsense and his company, even when forced upon him. He was the one person who really saw him for who he was, and it was damned nice not to have to pretend all the time. It could work out here in New Orleans. Mia and him. Rico and the big-hearted Amber. Maybe Kip and that cute little girl he was crushing on.
But Mia was a Guedry. Amber a bar maid. Ophelia a pawn. How were those things ever going to work for three princes in the House of Terriot?
Maybe that was the point. Maybe that was the answer his brother Turow, Savoie, Silas and Brigit MacCreedy had discovered. Rocking the boat wasn't a bad thing. Wasn't it time for him to make waves in his placid little pond of existence?
All his senses sprang to life.
He wasn't alone.
There were three of them, slipping through the gate Rico had left open. From their stealthy approach, he could tell they weren't from the
neighborhood welcoming committee.
"Evenin'."
He recognized the voice. The fellow who'd met him at Maisy J's. Colin opened his eyes slowly, careful not to betray his wariness as he called, "C'mon in. Got news?"
"Shore do." The wiry fellow approached with a harmless smile, flanked by two burly associates, both sporting the same bold tattoo. Whatever goodwill he pretended vanished when the two others drifted off to either side of his courtyard.
Colin stood, slowly, carefully, eyes on the speaker but attention fixed upon the two closing in on either side. “What’s this about? Did you hear from James?”
“No. From another interested party who’s not quite as big a fan. Nothing personal.”
As Colin turned to yell a warning to Rico, one of them grabbed his arm. The other’s fist sent his world spinning. As he wobbled, just yards away from help, he heard a soft command.
“Get proof.”
Pain, sharp and sudden, ripped through his ears. A meaty fist silenced his outcry, filling his mouth with blood.
“Let him go and step away.”
Colin reeled, struggling for balance, fury overtaking the unpleasant shocks of hurt as he spat crimson and growled, “You’re dead.”
“I don’t think so, but you’ll wish we’d killed you.”
He held a small vial. As he made a quick tossing motion, Colin flung up his right arm to protect his face as the fires of hell fell on him.
CHAPTER TEN
Mia tried to be as gentle as she could, but Rico was determined to make it difficult, starting with a quickly aborted kiss. She held him away, with her palms and her words.
"You don't really want me, Rico."
"Yes, I do. I thought that's what I was proving to you all this time."
She pushed against the wide shoulders she feared couldn't bear the weight of his disappointment. "Neither one of us was serious and you know it. We were having fun together, and it was fun, and you're a great guy. But not the right guy."
"And that's Colin?" He spat his brother's name.
"Yes," she told him with a quiet intensity. "It is. It always has been. I was just afraid to admit it to myself."